Random Thoughts and Important Updates
It likes like I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. Since I like to end on high notes, I'll start with the bad news. I heard about Jan Animation's Cease and Desist order www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03… and with that news I am definitely going to have to put some endeavors on hiatus, most notably making Clean Up on Smile Five an actual animated episode (Nayfola, you can keep doing the comics. I'd hate to see your efforts go to waste and as far as I can tell Hasbro doesn't seem to know that DeviantArt exists). But wouldn't a fan animation fall under Fair Use? Actually, it's not my place to call. You see nothing is really "fair use" or "not fair use" until it has been taken to court and decided by a judge. Keep in mind that I'm not a lawyer, so these are my layman's interpretation of this stuff. There are four tenants to consider when determining fair use: # the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. Criticism, commentary, and etc is usually protected uses. After all, it'd be ridiculous to require permission in order to review something. Nothing would ever get a negative review again. As for the educational purposes; I'm pretty sure that you're allowed to make money off of your reviews (thought that does tip the scale against you), you just can't put them behind a pay wall or something (this is why that the Nostalgia Critic only keeps public domain stuff exclusive to his DVD's). # The nature of the copyrighted work. This honestly is one that I don't care about. It basically states that you can't copyright things like the actual sound of rain. Works of fiction are much more protected by fair use, but if it is released for public consumption then you should be fine. # the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. Use no more than what you need to use, got it. Keep in mind that a reviewer may cite largely from the original work, if his design be really and truly to use the passages for the purposes of fair and reasonable criticism. # the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. This one kind of confuses me. Wouldn't a negative review hurt the potential market? Or a review full of spoilers for that matter? Possibly, but that's not what's argued here. The main question is "can this be used as a substitute for what it's transforming" and that's most likely the basis of Hasbro's recent cease and desist, and what they'll argue if they take it to court. "Can a review of this episode be used as a substitute for this episode" generally no. "Can a fanmade episode using our style be used a substitute for our show?" That one is a little bit more debatable. Do I agree with the take downs and the cease and desists? Absolutely not. I mean, I understand the legal precedent, but I don't think that it was a good idea. I don't think much of what Hasbro does is a good idea because they... how do I want to put this? You know that loser kid from your high school who joined the football team and got the winning touch down, became the most popular kid in school, and started abusing his popularity to do stupid shit and hurt those closest to him? Yeah, Hasbro is the corporate equivalent of that. For the first time in... ever, they've actually been relevant. Most companies, like say Disney, have been dealing with fair use for decades. Hasbro is just late to the party. Hopefully they'll catch on and get the memo. Oh wait, I said I had good news too. So, let's talk about the good news. I actually reached my first patreon goal, which means that I get to review Cars 2! The problem is that I was planning something and didn't foresee me reaching any patreon goal in the meantime. Because, next month is Nickelodeon month! Unlike the Nostalgia Critic's Nickelodeon month that detailed how great they are, my Nickelodeon month will be detailing how terrible they've gotten and I'll be doing it without touching Spongebob once. And if this goes over well, I'll make April my "themed" month, similar to how February is the Nostalgia Critic's. So, what's the theme? Touching on what other shows Nickelodeon has been trying to push. So, here's the schedule. Atrocity #42: Princess Promenade (we still have a week left in March) Atrocity #43: Fart Baby and Craig Atrocity #44: Random Fanboy and Chum Chum episode Atrocity #45: Stank Breath Breadwinners Atrocity #46: Super secret plan that I'm not telling you until it airs. Atrocity #47: Cars 2 Sound like a plan? Category:Miscellaneous